Surprise emerging auction tactic revealed ahead of a bumper weekend under the hammer

Buyer behaviour at auction and, specifically, in the lead up to auctions, is changing.

Kate Smith, of Kate Smith property said while homes had previously attracted strong numbers of bidding registrations prior to auction day, buyers were now being tactical about when they do it, and in how they submit their offers.

“Across the board, we’re not seeing a lot of pre-auction offers – it’s interesting to see how the tactics of buyers change every now and then,” she said.

“It’s not typical behaviour for people to register before the day now.

“I think buyers might think that if there are too many registrations pre-auctions that the vendors might set a higher reserve.

“So we do find most of our registrations come on the day and we’re averaging five registrations per property.”

Ms Smith is currently selling the state’s most-viewed (on realestate.com.au) auction property for this weekend – a stunningly renovated home at 117 Hart St, Semaphore.

The four-bedroom home will be auctioned at 10am Saturday without a price guide.

“We’ve had a very high level of views and attendance and are expecting a strong result on the day,” Ms Smith said.

117 Hart St, Semaphore’s renovated bathroom. Supplied

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The updated kitchen. Supplied

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The view to the rear yard. Supplied

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Ms Smith said interest in the home was a mix of first-home hunters, second-time purchasers, investors, young couples and families.

She said homes that didn’t sell at auction usually sold shortly after.

“We had an auction on Saturday in Exeter and that one was held over and contracted on Wednesday night with another four offers that came into the mix,” she said.

“Eighty per cent of the homes that don’t sell at auction will sell within 10 days after.”

Adelaide is gearing up for another solid auction weekend, with PropTrack data revealing more than 100 properties are set to go under the hammer in the next few days.

According to the data, 116 homes will hit the auction block across the state this weekend – 110 in metro Adelaide and the other six in regional SA.

An outdoor entertainment area with fireplace. Supplied

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And the home’s concrete basketball court. Supplied

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This is one more than the 115 set to be auctioned next weekend, but is down 31 per cent on the number auctioned this weekend last year.

Mawson Lakes is Adelaide’s hottest auction suburb, with four properties going to auction this weekend.

Fullarton, in Adelaide’s west, Para Hills West and Valley View in Adelaide’s northern and northeastern suburbs respectively each have three properties going to auction this weekend, ahead of Beaumont’s two.

The other four most viewed SA auction properties for this weekend are 1/269 Sir Donald Bradman Dr, Cowandilla, 738 Goodwood Rd, Pasadena, 39 Fulton St, Gilles Plains, and 3 Priscilla St, Prospect.